A Bloomington man was sentenced to 30 years in prison Monday for burglaries and one rape in September 2016 near the IU campus.
Devin Grounds was charged with multiple felony counts of rape, burglary and theft in connection with the break-ins. He pleaded guilty to one rape charge, and the other charges were dismissed as part of a plea agreement.
Grounds pleaded guilty to one rape charge May 2 but said he wanted to withdraw his plea during an Aug. 21 sentencing hearing because he was concerned he hadn’t received enough legal counsel before agreeing to the plea.
He appeared in court again Sept. 10 and said he wanted to proceed with his original guilty plea. As part of the plea deal, all his other charges were dismissed.
“This has been a very tumultuous event for him and the people that care about him,” his attorney, Stuart Baggerly, said Sept. 10 in court.
In court Monday, Grounds's mom, sister and two friends testified. Despite Grounds’s guilty plea, Shon White and Daysha Laramore, his mom and sister, said they don’t believe he has raped anyone. Laramore said she thinks he agreed to the plea deal to receive a shorter sentence than he might if he were convicted by a jury.
“A rapist is one thing I would never call my brother,” Laramore said.
Judge Marc Kellams said Monday even though Grounds’s family doesn’t believe he raped the victim, Grounds is admitting he did by pleading guilty.
“I have to assume you did this based on your guilty plea,” Kellams said. “I’d never want to send an innocent person to jail.”
The friends and family who testified described Grounds as a caring, trustworthy friend and family member.
White and Laramore both said Grounds is a good, responsible person when he’s with his family. They told the court they think Grounds’s friends have been a negative influence in his life because he abuses drugs and gets into negative situations with them.
Laramore’s three young daughters were also with her. She said Grounds has always been a great uncle to the girls, and she’ll continue to let them see him when he gets out of prison.
“As a family we’ve always supported each other and will continue to support each other,” Laramore said.
Two friends of Grounds, Ashley Craig and Michael Spaulding, said he has helped take care of their kids and been a supportive friend. They both said they think of him like a brother.
On Monday, Kellams read aloud part of the victim’s statement from July. The victim said she felt empty and depressed. She missed school and lost money as a result of what happened to her, she said.
If Grounds received any less than the maximum sentence, it would “make me sick to my stomach,” she said.
Because of the plea agreement, the maximum sentence Grounds could receive was 30 years, with a minimum of 20 years. If he had gone to trial and been convicted, he could have received up to 40 years.
